Covenant
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2005
- Posts
- 2,773
- Likes
- 61
Reposting this in its own thread so that it doesn't get lost amidst the Woo Amp Owner thread:
Impressions of the WA6SE at 200hrs:
Setup is PC playing FLAC with ASIO4ALL > Pico DAC > WA6SE > HD600, using the Sophia Princess with El Menco 6EW7 drive tubes. The Princess is at 85hrs burn in herself, which should be sufficient for her sound to have settled. The amp was warmed up for 2hrs prior to listening/noting down the below.
The overall character seems to be one of remarkable clarity and seperation, whilst maintaining a hint of sweetness and warmth. Early on during the burn-in process of the Sophia she brought a hyper-detailed, almost etched character to the HD600's - which was remarkable enough in itself, as the HD600 is a 'phone that could almost never be called etched, leaning as it does towards pleasing, warm musicality - which then faded into a less detailed, less open, almost dull sound signature. Details would then re-emerge a day or so later, along with a re-opening of the soundfield, each time slightly less etched and fatigueing than before. Until now, when all the detail retrieval originally heard still seems to be there, but presented in a much more fluid, analogue sort of way.
Vocals possess intimacy and immediacy, and string instruments in particular sound stunning, with intense vibrancy and resonance. Drums and percussion are good, but not exceptional - they are tight and deep, but lack the last word in impact and visceral punch. Although I'm willing to admit that this could well just be a shortcoming of the headphone. There seems to be no bleed of upper-bass into lower-mids though, which makes for good vocal clarity even in bassy tracks.
In very soundstageous recordings - my test track here being Josh Groban's 'To Where you Are' - the Woo seems to take the naturally tall soundstage of the HD600 and expand it horizontally as well. Josh's voice resonates, not only up into the ceiling, but out and around as well, creating an enveloping effect that I haven't noticed on this track before.
On the other side of the spectrum, very fast material that requires transient speed and sharp attacks - In this case, Michael's Jackson's 'Dont stop till you get enough', from the Number Ones album - possesses a sharpness of leading edges that is rarely heard from this headphone, in entirely good ways. Similarly, Shpongle's Dorset Perception sounds brilliant, albeit not as good as my memory of how the SA5000 + M^3 combo performed with this track, as one would expect. HD600 is simply a slower headphone, with emphasis on decay rather than attack, so even getting close to the ultra-fast SA5000 for these sorts of tracks is testament to the speed and power of the Woo.
More to come later on in the burn in process, hopefully after I get my Sylvania large bottle 6FD7's to replace the El Menco's
Impressions of the WA6SE at 200hrs:
Setup is PC playing FLAC with ASIO4ALL > Pico DAC > WA6SE > HD600, using the Sophia Princess with El Menco 6EW7 drive tubes. The Princess is at 85hrs burn in herself, which should be sufficient for her sound to have settled. The amp was warmed up for 2hrs prior to listening/noting down the below.
The overall character seems to be one of remarkable clarity and seperation, whilst maintaining a hint of sweetness and warmth. Early on during the burn-in process of the Sophia she brought a hyper-detailed, almost etched character to the HD600's - which was remarkable enough in itself, as the HD600 is a 'phone that could almost never be called etched, leaning as it does towards pleasing, warm musicality - which then faded into a less detailed, less open, almost dull sound signature. Details would then re-emerge a day or so later, along with a re-opening of the soundfield, each time slightly less etched and fatigueing than before. Until now, when all the detail retrieval originally heard still seems to be there, but presented in a much more fluid, analogue sort of way.
Vocals possess intimacy and immediacy, and string instruments in particular sound stunning, with intense vibrancy and resonance. Drums and percussion are good, but not exceptional - they are tight and deep, but lack the last word in impact and visceral punch. Although I'm willing to admit that this could well just be a shortcoming of the headphone. There seems to be no bleed of upper-bass into lower-mids though, which makes for good vocal clarity even in bassy tracks.
In very soundstageous recordings - my test track here being Josh Groban's 'To Where you Are' - the Woo seems to take the naturally tall soundstage of the HD600 and expand it horizontally as well. Josh's voice resonates, not only up into the ceiling, but out and around as well, creating an enveloping effect that I haven't noticed on this track before.
On the other side of the spectrum, very fast material that requires transient speed and sharp attacks - In this case, Michael's Jackson's 'Dont stop till you get enough', from the Number Ones album - possesses a sharpness of leading edges that is rarely heard from this headphone, in entirely good ways. Similarly, Shpongle's Dorset Perception sounds brilliant, albeit not as good as my memory of how the SA5000 + M^3 combo performed with this track, as one would expect. HD600 is simply a slower headphone, with emphasis on decay rather than attack, so even getting close to the ultra-fast SA5000 for these sorts of tracks is testament to the speed and power of the Woo.
More to come later on in the burn in process, hopefully after I get my Sylvania large bottle 6FD7's to replace the El Menco's
